Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Giovanni's Room

Another sad and sadly important book! I understand why it’s a classic, as it does what classics do best, delve into a deeply specific situation that has some bearing on universal human themes and emotions. At its heart, Giovanni’s room is a story about shame.

It chronicles what happens when the object of your desire is so unthinkable (read: a man) that they become grotesque and despised by virtue of your own projected self-hatred. Not easy reading.

The narrator is admirably reflective; he dodges and intellectualises but really, he knows how he feels. Baldwin accurately describes those moments where you can see the truth inside yourself, *somewhere over there* but you daren’t look in case it catches the light and becomes more real.

He is also painfully observant, detail-obsessed and speculative. Always going off and describing the projected inner workings of someone else’s life. Often women - such strange creatures! Speaking from a 21st Century ADHD perspective, he sounds neurodivergent. But that’s just opinion!

Beyond being a story of shame, this novel also talks about codependency, with characters smearing boundaries all over the place and taking advantage of power (the power of shame? Maybe that’s putting it too simply). It’s a mess! But that’s the point.

The writing itself is intense. There are long sentences. There are big words. There were some new words for me, like “unregenerate” and - dear god - it drilled the word sardonic into my mind. A lot of people in this book act sardonically. Some of it is in French, but I rather enjoyed that.

Especially towards the beginning, the language is dynamic and very exciting; heat “bangs” against walls, light “spills” covering everything, telephone poles “come crying out” as you speed towards them. This shifts through the novel, and towards the end is where I felt it became dense and a little tepid. This seems to reflect the main character’s depth of despair, which kind of works, I guess.

We have a great view into the inner machinery of the narrator’s mind, his attempts to cover-up, his little lies, his big ones, his overthinking, his biases and his bigotry too. The rest of the view is Paris and its characters, with all of their flaws laid out. So. Many. Flaws.

Look, there are reasons I have not ventured to Paris in my adult life. I’m allergic to hedonism. At best I don’t get it, at worst it ~~disgusts~~ really bothers me. The wine, the intensity, all of those varied and supposedly wondrous plaisirs of the flesh - not my bag. Don’t come for me, I’ve got my own shit, I’m in therapy!!!

As such, a book like this was never going to be meant for me. I’ve never felt David nor Giovanni’s particular gut-wrenching anguish, their need to be close and the impossibility of that, but overall, Giovanni’s Room truly had its moments. Despite being heady, intellectual and anxiety-inducing, it felt authentic. I have no doubt Baldwin wrote from experience.

For anyone looking to really delve into the mind of a queer person in the 1950s, I would consider this essential reading. I suppose I’d just ask you to remember it doesn’t represent all queer people. Many of us can (thankfully) both love and like each other.

Content Warnings

sophiederoode's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No

3.5

I was very excited to read this popular classic, especially since it’s a queer book and i read it in pride month. Unfortunately i found it really hard to get through and didn’t live up to my expectations..

I realllllyy loved Baldwins’s writing, his way with words, timing etc was very beautiful. The book was also full emotion and melancholy which i really liked. Also the story itself didn’t bore me

and i liked the way of finally figuring out why giovanni was going to die.

I find it hard to connect with a book when i don’t like the characters, and this was one of those books. I wasn't a fan of the main character David but also the love interest, which is supposed to be an adored person but he just felt really dependent and pick-me. Also i felt the whole homosexuality storyline got lost when there were misogynistic and transphobic comments in the book?? i get that it’s an old book but DAMN cool it down… I also felt that their relationship, as well as david’s other relationship, weren’t very grounded and so i couldn’t be very invested. I also wish they zoomed in a bit more on David’s dad and life in america.

Anyway, maybe i should sit with this book a while longer or i just didn’t get it. I definitely didn’t dislike it but unfortunately also didn’t like it a lot. I loved Baldwins writing though so maybe i will read another one of his books.

Content Warnings

melist6's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

rieviolet's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I had very high expectations for this novel and unfortunately it didn't live up to them as much as I'd hoped for.

I cannot fault Baldwin's prose, he knows how to paint a scene or portray an emotion with words. I also don't mind bleak and melancholic stories. I think that my main problem was that I struggled to connect with the characters. I wasn't very fond of David but honestly, I disliked Giovanni the most, he spewed such brutally misogynistic remarks that I just wanted to throw him into the Seine, sympathizing with him was the furthest thing from my mind.
While I recognize that not getting along well with unlikeable characters is a personal issue, I also think that the relationship itself felt a bit flimsly grounded. I was disconnected from the characters and, accordingly, I wasn't strongly invested in their turmoils and tragedies.

All in all, I understand and value the importance of the themes explored and the relevance of the novel within the queer literary canon, but it didn't resonate with me as deeply as with other readers.

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